Multiscale Analysis and Optimisation of Photosynthetic Solar Energy Systems

Abstract

This work asks how light harvesting in photosynthetic systems can be optimised for economically scalable, sustainable energy production. Hierarchy theory is introduced as a system-analysis and optimisation tool better able to handle multiscale, multiprocess complexities in photosynthetic energetics compared with standard linear-process analysis. Within this framework, new insights are given into relationships between composition, structure and energetics at the scale of the thylakoid membrane, and also into how components at different scales cooperate under functional objectives of the whole photosynthetic system. Combining these reductionistic and holistic analyses creates a platform for modelling multiscale-optimal, idealised photosynthetic systems in silico.

PhD Thesis, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland. 278 pages, 44 figures, 3 published papers included. Detailed abstract on page i

References in corpus (7)

• Hierarchical structure and the prediction of missing links in networks
• Environment-Assisted Quantum Walks in Photosynthetic Energy Transfer
• Highly efficient energy excitation transfer in light-harvesting complexes: The fundamental role of noise-assisted transport
• Extracting the hierarchical organization of complex systems
• Population inversion of driven two-level systems in a structureless bath
• Coexistence between fluid and crystalline phases of proteins in photosynthetic membranes
• Multiscale photosynthetic exciton transfer